


No Angel

by fmpsimon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Break Up, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:25:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fmpsimon/pseuds/fmpsimon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ember Island had a habit of drawing all of his emotions to the surface and pounding him until he was raw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Angel

                He made his way across the beach, clutching a seashell in his hand.  It was a long walk to the docks, especially at night.  The moon was high in the sky, though, providing him enough light to see where he was going.  He felt angry, hurt, but mostly guilty.  This place had a habit of drawing all of his emotions to the surface and pounding him until he was raw.

 

                _“Zuko, tell me what’s going on with you right now!  I’m tired of dating a shell of a man!” Mai shouted.  He instinctively moved to shush her, even though this was his family’s private beach.  “Don’t tell me to be quiet!”_

_“You’re making a big deal out of nothing!” Zuko said, fighting back._

_“Nothing, huh?”  He tried to walk away and she blocked his movements.  “You’re not_ running _this time!”_

_He glowered at her.  “Mai, move, or—”_

_“Or what?” she demanded.  “People are talking, you know.  If you’d stop and pay attention once in a while, you’d hear it too.”_

_He crossed his arms.  “What are you talking about?  Who’s talking?  What are they saying about me?”_

_She looked livid.  “About you?  Argh, that’s my point, Zuko!  This isn’t just about you!  This is about_ us _!  Are you going to marry me?  Or am I just going to be your whore like everyone says I am?”_

_He didn’t know what she was saying.  Was he this oblivious?  “Mai, you’re not—I don’t think of you like that,” he sputtered._

_She folded her arms.  “Do you even love me, Zuko?  Be honest,” she snapped._

_He didn’t respond at first.  And even though he knew the answer, he searched himself for a better one.  He wanted desperately to tell her what she wanted to hear.  His shoulders sank and he looked away.  “No.  And I can’t marry you.”  She was silent for so long that he chanced looking back at her.  She was looking away now.  Her lips were trembling and he could see tears on her cheeks.  “Mai, please say something.  Scream at me, yell at me—I don’t care!  Just say something!”_

_She clenched her fists and he saw her eyes dart to his face, fiery behind her bangs.  “I’m not going to_ say _anything to you every again.  And I don’t want to see you, or hear from you, Zuko, for a_ long time _.”  She pulled a seashell out of her robe and forced it into his hand.  “And you can have that back.  I don’t want anything to do with you.”_

_“Mai, please understand,” he began as she walked past him._

_She whirled around.  “No,_ you _understand: I have wasted a lifetime chasing you!  You had no right to lead me on this long.  Two years of kisses and I love yous and little presents!”  She ripped her necklace off and threw it to the ground.  The beads scattered and she stormed off._

_He hadn’t planned for any of this.  This was supposed to be a romantic moonlit walk, and it had turned into a disaster.  He tried to talk to her.  He knocked on the door, called out to her, but she wouldn’t respond.  “I’m leaving,” he finally said, frustrated._

He paced on the dock.  He had never promised anything to her.  She had made assumptions.  What did “I love you” mean, anyway?  He hurled the seashell into the ocean.  It was one thing to ruin his own life, but he had no right ruining hers.  He sighed.  Maybe in a month, when she returned, he could make it up to her.  Maybe they would get married and he could make her happy.  Maybe she could make him happy too.  He sat on the dock, letting his legs hang.  The water lapped at his feet, washing the coarse sand away, caressing his skin.  The push and pull of the water soothed him, and he let it draw away his cares.


End file.
